Chapter Twenty-Four: The Role of the Wood Elf

The vast region of Mexico is strewn with veins of gold and silver, some large, others small. Legend has it that when the Madrid Empire first arrived, one could stumble over a nugget of gold merely by walking across certain stretches of land. Though likely exaggerated, this tale spread far and wide, carrying with it the undeniable truth of the region’s abundant wealth in precious metals.

Yet, the richness of Mexico’s land extended beyond its mineral deposits. The soil was fertile, and a multitude of wild beasts provided the wood elves—who had lived there for generations—with a diverse and plentiful diet. This abundance of food ensured that the colonists never lacked for delicacies, yet it also rendered their attempts to block off the wood elves repeatedly unsuccessful.

This was an ordinary town, sustained chiefly by a medium-sized gold mine just a few miles away. On the continent of Jinzhou, where wood elves harbored deep resentment toward humans, towns of this modest scale were rare. Nearly all such settlements clustered around valuable mineral veins. Most colonists preferred the relative safety of fortified cities, even if protection amounted to little more than a simple wall, which nevertheless provided a hundredfold sense of security—especially since the primitive wood elves were helpless against such barriers.

Within the town, the defense was not managed by the regular forces of the English Empire stationed in Mexico. The composition of the Jinzhou colonial military differed markedly from that of Europe’s mainland. On the continent, where wars were nearly constant, the English and the Franknian Empires favored reliable standing armies over mercenaries who fought solely for money.

Standing armies were loyal and disciplined, tightly controlled by the government, and their desertion rates were far lower than those of bloodthirsty mercenaries. This was not to say mercenaries were cowardly; on the contrary, each mercenary unit often possessed superior combat skills compared to standing troops lacking real battlefield experience.

However, mercenaries viewed their soldiers as capital. When a battle was not excessively brutal and victory seemed within reach, mercenaries were the most formidable fighting force. But if their leaders realized they were about to lose their investment, they would withdraw en masse. History bore witness to such organized retreats—perhaps not in vast numbers, but enough to leave deadly gaps on the front lines.

In certain instances, mercenaries did fight to the death. Unfortunately, when defeated, they rarely received adequate compensation, or their employers simply lacked the means to pay. This unreliability stemmed from their nature—they fought not for lofty ideals of honor or national interest, but merely to earn their living.

Thus, mercenaries gradually withdrew from the mainland’s wars since the Madrid Empire’s era. Many sought livelihood in Jinzhou’s colonies, where disdain for indigenous peoples and the distance from Europe revitalized these soldiers of fortune.

The English and Franknian Empires discovered a charming aspect of these mercenaries: as long as the coin flowed, they would guard, fight, capture slaves, and more, without worrying about logistics—only gold mattered. This proved ideal for distant colonies.

Hence, Jinzhou’s continent saw the rise of a unique force known as the “militia” or “servant army.” The name might sound unimpressive, yet these unassuming militias formed the backbone of colonial military power in the struggle against the wood elves. They guarded towns and mines alike, paid with English gold coins, equipped their own weapons, and donned roughly uniform military attire, earning proud distinction.

It’s worth noting that while the English Empire stationed just over ten thousand regular troops in Mexico, the militias outnumbered them more than tenfold. Mercenaries operated independently, eliminating concerns over conflicting authority.

Just as Sun Ligan arrived in Mexico, Queen Su Yun Yun issued a command for a full-scale uprising.

“Boss, this town only has about two hundred English servant soldiers. Most of the remaining forces are stationed at the gold mine several miles away. Our thousands of warriors can launch a surprise attack, slaughtering these damned English while they’re off guard!” a wood elf officer proposed to the commander of the operation.

“Good. Launch the attack before dawn!”

Under the cloak of early morning darkness, over a thousand wood elf warriors silently advanced toward the sleeping town. Few carried matchlock guns; most wielded cold weapons. Their primary armament was the elven bow—a weapon once dominant among their kind but now sadly outmatched by the colonists’ firearms.

When they drew close enough, skilled archers struck first, picking off the few patrolling soldiers one by one. Before the English within the town could mount an effective response, the wood elves howled and surged forward en masse.

“Kill them all! Slaughter these hateful invaders!”

The wood elf warriors split their forces, charging toward the town’s barracks and government offices. The peaceful settlement was instantly soaked in blood.

Bang! Thud! A few mercenaries fired back, only to be met with a relentless rain of arrows. The wood elf archers, having closed in through stealth, expertly targeted unprotected parts of the mercenaries’ bodies. Their marksmanship far surpassed that of humans.

“Get up! The wood elf guerrillas are attacking! There are many of them! Gear up!” The officers inside the barracks shouted as they roused the mercenaries. Yet, these soldiers lacked the discipline of regular troops, and their response was slower than expected.

Before the mercenaries could fully arm themselves, hundreds of fierce wood elves stormed the camp.

“Archers, aim and fire volleys!” commanded a wood elf officer. The elite warriors paused and formed a somewhat loose formation, launching volleys at the assembling human soldiers.

Amid screams of agony, the mercenaries abandoned their plan to form ranks and confront the enemy in formation. Overwhelmed, they braced to fight desperately, fully aware that the hostile wood elves would show no mercy or take prisoners.

After several rounds of volleys, the wood elves charged forward, weapons drawn, intent on encircling and annihilating the mercenaries, who numbered fewer than a hundred.

“Draw your swords! We fight to the death! Surrender means death! Charge, brothers!” The camp’s officer, eyes wide with resolve, led his remaining men into close combat.

At the moment of impact, the wood elves’ numerical advantage was blunted. Most of their weapons struck the half-body armor worn by the mercenaries. The technological gap in weaponry became starkly evident: hundreds of wood elves attacking a few dozen humans resulted in a one-to-one casualty exchange, even amid chaotic melee.

This was possible only because soldiers in the Jinzhou colony still wore substantial plate armor—an immensely effective defense against the primitive wood elves. This disparity was a key reason why wood elves relentlessly plundered wealth to purchase firearms. Without guns, wood elf warriors stood little chance in equal numbers.

However, among the thousand-strong wood elf force, firearms were scarce. After a few sporadic gunshots, the battle devolved into brutal hand-to-hand combat.

While the barracks fought fiercely, resistance at the town government was weaker. Most of the wood elves’ matchlock guns concentrated there, and a few volleys quickly decimated the town’s sparse defenders. The English-appointed mayor’s head was soon hung from the government building, while another official, the tax officer stationed near the mine, narrowly escaped with his life.

After sacrificing over two hundred wood elves to wipe out the town’s resistance, the massacre began in earnest. Burning with fury, the wood elf warriors slaughtered every resident.

“You alien butchers! Your deeds will soon bring the governor’s army down upon you! You shall all meet a dreadful end!”

Previously, wood elf guerrillas rarely attacked such minor, wealthless towns. Killing all inhabitants would not shake the colony’s foundations and would only invite large-scale military reprisals. But this time, the goal was to provoke the colonial government: the more troops the governor dispatched to suppress the uprising, the better for Sun Li’s Song Dynasty army.

“We wood elves are merely collecting debts. Your armies have done far worse than us!” With that, a wood elf warrior brought down his blade, sending the town’s residents to meet their god of light.

The town’s population was small, mostly serving the mine’s workers, insufficient to support many more. As the slaughter ended, buildings ignited into towering infernos. These wood elves seemed determined to enrage the Mexican colonial government to the utmost.

By the time reinforcements guarding the mine arrived, the wood elves had vanished without a trace, leaving behind scorched corpses and smoldering ruins. The furious English tax officer’s report on the wood elves’ actions was no doubt scathing.

Within a single day of Sun Li’s landing, such attacks erupted across the entire Mexican region. Numerous poorly defended towns were wiped out overnight, the bloodied blades of wood elf allies delivering a perfect tribute to the Song Dynasty’s forces.

Smoke and flames rose everywhere in Mexico. Though the damage seemed severe, it did not strike at the colony’s core. Yet the heavy civilian casualties forced the Mexican governor’s administration—however incompetent—not to ignore the crisis. With unease and reluctance, the governor dispatched mercenary forces to hunt down the wood elves.

Thus began the first battles in Mexico between the wood elves and the English mercenaries.